This guide is not intended to be legal advice. It is designed to provide general information about copyright to consider while researching and teaching in the health care field.
Copyright policy for electronic reserves is considered in compliance with U.S. Code: Title 17, Section 107 governing Fair Use. Specifically, any reproduction, either photocopied or electronic, of copyrighted material that is placed on Course Reserve at Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives, will conform to the following:
Many educational uses of copyright-protected materials are covered by fair use. There are no definite rules about when fair use overrides copyright laws. Each claim for fair use should be considered individually based on these four factors:
Based on the fair use criteria above, library staff will determine if limited portions of an individual work can be scanned or copied for course reserves. Faculty are responsible for additional costs to copyright compliance that exceed fair use.
For copyright questions pertaining to Course Reserves, please email us at mclibrary-collections@duke.edu
These resource can help you think through if fair use applies to your particularly case:
Fair use may cover photocopying or digitizing materials for yourself and your students in the context of in-person or distance instruction.
Photocopying
The U.S. Copyright Office gives some additional guidance about photocopying copyrighted materials in the “Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians” Circular 21. The guidelines allow you as a faculty member or instructor in a not-for-profit educational institution to make a single copy of a book chapter, journal, or newspaper article, short essay, story or poem, or a chart, graph, diagram, drawing or picture from a work. The single copy is to be used by you for your research, use in teaching, or preparation for teaching a class. If you need to make multiple copies for your class, consider the following guidelines:
Digitizing
The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002 provides additional rights to address the need to use copyrighted materials in distance education courses. This act allows instructors to digitally share materials that would reasonably be shared in a normal class setting.
It also allows analog versions (paper, film, and video) to be converted to digital formats IF:
For shared materials, the follow criteria must be met:
The following resources can help you better understand the TEACH Act and your rights to reproduce copyrighted materials as an instructor:
If you are using images in instructional materials like slides, you do not need to ask for permissions if your use is covered by fair use. Consider the following best practices: